gcom007

I think Bert will get signed soon unless he signs another one year deal. He's 35 in February so any multi-year deal wouldn't be idea past then. Is Eaves still an RFA? And Leino's already signed through next season.

I'll be at this game so I'm super excited that Kronwall's going to be back! I'm definitely feeling a victory after the last few games...

I haven't been following this thread, but I've gotta say, I love Eaves. I had a good feeling about him heading into the season. It seemed like he had a real good head on his shoulders and some good skill, and he's just 25. He seemed intent on coming in here and working hard and it seems like he has good hockey roots. I figured his issues probably had a lot to do with Ottawa's issues in general. It seems like a good environment to lose your way in whereas in Detroit he'd get a second chance almost at a rookie year, as our rookies tend to be a bit older. I love what I've seen and I think he's only going to keep getting better. I really hope Holland rewards him with a deal before too long. He's a guy who I'd love to have locked up before things get crazy in the off-season, and I think it could be done for a reasonable enough amount of money. I think they could find a number they could agree upon for a 2-3 year deal.

There's always the online stream...

Well, no surprise, but I disagree. I'm glad that you kept Flip separate from the Datsyuk points mostly though as I really don't think any comparison needs to be made. Earlier in the season I thought there were times where he looked weaker out there, I'll give you that. But I attribute that somewhat to injury as he's looked a lot better for awhile now. I again don't think you're accounting for a few things, specifically how big of a loss Hossa, Samuellson and Hudler was for this team. Add in all of our injuries and our offense is weak as hell and the priority of the team becomes defense. I think Datsyuk is going to look like a different player when playing with Bert and Holmstrom or an injured Z as opposed to healthy Z and a guy like Hossa. I'm not saying that to knock either, but Hossa's a guy who could out-skate Datsyuk at his best and play at both ends extremely well. Now Datsyuk is stuck with either 2 slower guys or a slower guy and a guy who's likely still hurting. That's going to change the way Datsyuk plays the game somewhat. And lastly, don't forget, we as a team got weaker before the season began, and then we had all the injuries. Meanwhile, every other team (especially in the West) got a lot better. That is worth noting too. Considering all that, I'm more than happy with the chances he's been creating lately and his still excellent defensive play. I really think he's done a good job given the circumstances and I think in due time, the points will start going up in a fury. This won't be his biggest and brightest year obviously, but I do think he'll end strong and so long as he's healthy, I look forward to him having a big playoffs.

Playing or producing at his level? I think he's still playing at his level, but he's just not getting the bounces or breaks that lead to his typical numbers. Again, I don't think anyone can honestly say that he's out there coasting around doing nothing. He's playing great in our end, still robbing guys at every opportunity and creating plenty of great offensive chances. What do you expect him to do when he's really doing everything right? You don't change what's "right" and what's always worked just because things are cold for awhile. You keep working hard and doing things right and eventually the bounces start going your way.

Yeah, this is probably some sort of a "feeler, test" type of a thing, so if you dig it, it's probably a good thing. He'd likely be a good guy for the job as he's a hockey guy obviously and one who's got great Detroit roots. He's also a guy who's been to hell and back and has gotten their s*** together now, and I'm all for giving those guys a second chance. So definitely let the station know you dig it. E-Mail for Station Feedback: ticketfeedback@971fm.com "97.1 The Ticket Feedback 97.1 FM The Ticket is committed to giving you the power to shape Detroit’s only FM sports radio station! Got a comment on a show or topic? Are you looking for something you heard about on The Ticket that you want more information on? Do you want to hear more or less of something we air? Whatever your comment, we want to know!" Make it happen. And OP, perhaps you could edit the contact info into the main post?

And in Holland I, ummm, am not surprised.......the man's up against a hell of a cap. "Negotiating" is right.

Good to see logic prevailing and more people rising to the defense of our under-appreciated stars. Again, anyone suggesting that a) Lidstrom is playing poorly or b) Datsyuk is playing poorly is probably not watching the games. Anyone who thinks that Z is just "sucking" is probably way off the mark as well. I don't think there's any way the guy is 100%. I don't know what exactly is going on, but this isn't a matter of heart or effort. The guy has never been one to slack at all and it's infinitely more likely that he's still being hampered by injuries.

Great news, let's hope for 14 and many more headache free days. Then let's hope for a late-season conditioning stint in GR not counting against the cap and a return that doesn't put us in cap hell. This would be HUGE for our defense come playoff time. Lilja's not a flashy-guy or a game-changer so much as one of those ultra-steady guys that can really help put you over the top when you've got some other things going right.

I've always liked Modano and have hoped for a long, long time that he'd finish his career in Detroit. If there's any other team he could play on that would be right apart from the Stars, it's the Wings. He'd look great in red and white and he's just another guy with Cup-winning experience. I would dig it from an emotional perspective completely. But my logical side really isn't so sure...

Yzerman's been a part of the personnel decision-making process since he was a player, and even then for a good while. He's had a lot to do with the guys we've brought in for a long time. It was never discussed while he was playing for rather obvious reasons, but to say he's done nothing? Silliness to the extreme. I don't doubt that Yzerman would consider going to another team to be a GM, but I still question whether Illitch would let him go so easily. I don't know what that means, but I just tend to think it'd take a whole hell of a lot of "right opportunity" for Steve to leave the Wings. It'll be a sad day if it happens, but I'm not too concerned either way, and definitely am not worrying about it now.

Great news, especially the Kronwall bit. His presence has been sorely missed. It's weird because I still don't know what to think about Williams given how little we've ended up seeing of him. Hopefully he can surprise us.

Horrendous? Really? Can you really say that? I don't think so. "Sub par offensively thus far" is about as cruel as it needs to get. And that's pushing it. He's a second half guy, it's already started. This isn't so new, just more amplified. But that can happen when you lose a ton of goal-scoring helpers in the off-season and then a bevy of other guys to injury for half the year...

They still are our best players. And let me guess, you probably thought Bert sucked for the first part of the season? Am I right? Just wondering... Being tired of it but realizing it's the cruel reality are two different things. When you're doing a lot of things right and creating chances, you can't punish guys for not getting the breaks. That's just silly. You keep them at it and keep them working because you know that if you do that, good things will eventually happen.

Adding to this, when you really look at Z's deal, you really have to say that he's making more than Datsyuk. He's making $7.5-7.75 million 7 years of the deal, $7.4 million this year, $7 million in the 9th year, and then it trails off after that to those low years which brings the cap hit way down. For all intents and purposes, Z's getting paid Lidstrom money which is more than Datsyuk. I'm not saying that to string Z up (I think he's hurting more than he's let on), but I'm just saying... I think Lidstrom's been far better than most give him credit for and just like the last few seasons, I think he'll have a much stronger second half offensively. Again, like Drake clearly laid out, he's leading our team offensively right now for the last 10 or so games. Again, I think Z's probably hurting more than any of us know. Something is not right and I don't think it has anything to do with desire or effort. Same goes for Dats. While I think it's less likely that he's dealing with injury, I don't think it's impossible either. But in any event, he's going through Bertuzzi's early-season issues. He's doing a lot of things right, getting chances and creating chances, but the puck's just not going into the net as often as he'd like. If he keeps working, that'll turn around quick and he'll be on fire. Like many have said, this finger-pointing is really getting silly.

If Alan Shephard was able to go to the moon, Andreas Lilja can come back from this injury this season. This is airtight logic.

When I make a point of noting secondary assists as weak, it's usually because the assist was not a consequential part of the play that lead to the goal. Whether Flip gets primary or secondary assists, many are not exactly thrilling to say the least. I'm not saying he's not capable of making good plays, but the guy picks up more than a few assists based on other people's playmaking efforts. I don't believe I raised that point (secondary assists) in this thread though anyways. I said when Flip gets points and Dats gets points, it's a totally different thing. Flip tends to benefit from other guys playmaking efforts while Dats is the one making the play. Again, I'm not saying this is the case for every point he gets at all, but he's had multiple assists since returning that were somewhat less than extraordinary. Meanwhile, AGAIN, Datsyuk makes brilliant plays again and again night after night. He makes things happen out of nowhere. Flip absolutely does not do that in any way, shape or form like Datsyuk can. So there's no way in hell that it would be a good idea to "send a message" to Datsyuk. That's ridiculous. I barely believe you're watching the games if you really say Datsyuk's been as horrible as you do. He's not getting a ton of points, but to say he's not creating opportunities is ABSURD!!!

Datsyuk has earned every cent of his money and some from the second he pulled a Wings sweater over his head. He's a proven performer. This is a weak season and he still not playing terrible at all. He's mostly been unlucky, especially lately. Meanwhile, Flip is still overpaid based on anything he's proven thus far. So I think he needs to do a hell of a lot better than he's doing now to justify his contract which is currently still extravagant based on his performance. Can we talk about that? Why don't you make a thread about that. After all, even you've admitted that he's overpaid based on what he's done so far in his career. Why aren't we talking about that?

This is nothing short of malarky on the grandest of scales. Can we link to video replays of every point that Datsyuk and Flip has put up in this time frame? I think it'd be a lovely comparison to help us see how a brilliant player at his worst still looks far better than an average player at his supposed best. This is pure nonsense.

This thread is absurd.

Howard didn't play poorly tonight at all. I think Osgood will get more starts than he's gotten lately, but I don't think Howard played in a manner to throw off what Babcock has put out there thus far for the next week.

What should Draper and Maltby be doing to impress you folks more?

In your eyes, no way in hell will he ever have a better season than Flip. After all, even Dats can't muster that this year! For the rest of us, it's safe to say he never will if he doesn't work on his weaknesses and find some focus and drive. But if he does, he most certainly has the skill set to have a far better season offensively than Flip has ever had and likely ever will have. Ideally he'll work out those weaknesses over the summer and come out strong next year. Again, to be perfectly clear, I say that based entirely on his skill set and his willingness to put in the hard work to fix the areas that are holding him back right now. I'm making absolutely no guarantee's and to say I was even hopeful would be an overstatement. I'm patient, but that's about the extent of it.

Exactly what I'm thinking.